Ethos

Mind in Bexley actively promotes good mental health for all, tackles stigma and discrimination relating to mental illness and works to promote the social inclusion of people with mental health problems. Through a variety of projects and self help initiatives, Mind in Bexley works with individuals to develop the necessary skills to stay free of, or minimise the effects of, mental ill health at stressful times in their lives and survive challenging mental health episodes.

Mind in Bexley recognises that the major detriments of mental ill-health are are strongly influenced cultural, social and economic factors. This model of health is based on Engel’s (1977) Biopsychosocial (BPS) Model of Health and Illness demonstrates the interconnectedness of biology, psychology and sociology, which work as systems of the body.  This model recognises that psychosocial factors greatly impact on the progression of, and recuperation of physical and mental ill health.

The biopsychosocial model is an approach which stresses the importance of a holistic more complete ‘whole-patient-as-a-person’ approach. This model considers factors outside the biological process of illness when trying to understand health and illness. In this approach, an individual’s social context and psychological wellbeing are key factors in their illness and recovery, along with their thoughts, beliefs and emotions.

This approach also views mental health recovery from multiple perspectives, of the service user, relatives, health professionals and the mainstream, voluntary and community providers. Although there are many perceptions and definitions of recovery, William Anthony (1993) identifies recovery as:

"a deeply personal, unique process of changing one’s attitudes, values, feelings, goals, skills and/or roles. It is a way of living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life even with limitations caused by the illness. Recovery involves the development of new meaning and purpose in one’s life as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of mental illness."

Ultimately, because recovery is a personal and unique process, everyone with a mental health illness develops their own definition of recovery.  Mind in Bexley therefore works to build and develop trustful relationships with users and works to empower service users to take part in service planning and delivery which meets their individual and specific needs. It is also therefore necessary to ensure that the individual is not lost within a complex mental health and bureaucratic system. In this way, open and transparent communication between organisations and importantly in partnership with the service user is an essential aspect of a service that meets the needs of users. Mind service users are involved in their own service care delivery which requires a flexible approach in order to reflect their complex requirements.

We subsequently work to maintain this active participation through on-going evaluation on different levels including research, service user questionnaires, feedback sessions and in-house team meetings. Such an approach therefore strives to promote self esteem with an emphasis on the user being their own best ‘expert’.